In the visually magical volume The Book...

In the visually magical volume The Book of Goddesses, Kris Waldherr pays homage to 26 visions of proud femininity from all over the world, from Athena (the Greek goddess of wisdom) and Isis (the Egyptian fertility goddess) to Oya (African goddess of the Niger) and Xochiquetzal (the Mexican flower goddess). The extensively researched portraits include a page of straightforward text establishing background and summarizing each story. Woven around the words are soft and delicate watercolors, prominently featuring factual details as well as tendrils of swirling hair.

Goddesses starred in major roles in the Trojan War--another bit of ancient history kids easily thrill to. Adding to his list of unique and distinguished books, author Paul Fleischman remedies this gap with Dateline: Troy, a creative new version of Homer’s “Iliad.” To make the hair-raising but definitely distant story of the Trojan War more immediate, Fleischman positions each segment of his skillful retelling opposite a page of headlines clipped during the years between the First World War and the Persian Gulf War. The striking parallels offer food for discussion, not just about the waste and futility of war but also the way remote events can be a case of “the more things change. . . .”

Los Angeles author Ann Whitford Paul rescues another slice of history--early American frontier life from a woman’s point of view--with The Seasons Sewn: A Year in Patchwork. Seasonal activities of the 19th century unfold by way of analysis of the patchwork quilt patterns-- the “Album,” the “Blazing Star,” the “Broken Dishes” and 21 others--developed by pioneer women. This is innovative and unexpectedly poignant nonfiction, with mood-setting scratchboard illustrations by Michael McCurdy.

A second new children’s book about quilting (making this officially a trend) is With Needle and Thread: A Book About Quilts. Here Raymond Bial renders a joyful and information-packed tribute to this art and those who have practiced it throughout the world--this means women, traditionally denied access to other means of artistic expression. Although the focus is quilting--from Hmong traditions and story quilts right up to today’s AIDS quilt--the book also becomes a useful social history of women. Lots of interviews and clear photos in color add sparkle.

For less historically inclined young readers, Sandra Markle’s lucid text and explicit (verging on gory) photos take readers Outside and Inside Sharks. The interior of a shark’s stomach, close-ups of those famous teeth, the tissue inside a shark’s nose, the exact moment of a baby shark’s birth. . . . Markle reveals as much about this perennially favorite creature as kids could possibly want to know.

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THE BOOK OF GODDESSES, By Kris Waldherr (Beyond Words; $17.95; ages 8 and up)

DATELINE: TROY, By Paul Fleischman . Collages by Gwen Frankfeldt and Glenn Morrow (Candlewick; $15.99; ages 12-15)

THE SEASONS SEWN: A Year in Patchwork, By Ann Whitford Paul . Illustrated by Michael McCurdy (Browndeer/Harcourt; $16; ages 6-9)

WITH NEEDLE AND THREAD: A Book About Quilts, By Raymond Bial (Houghton; $14.95; ages 8-12)

OUTSIDE AND INSIDE SHARKS, By Sandra Markle (Atheneum; $16; ages 4-8)